At CES 2020, Samsung introduced a small ball-shaped robot that follows the owner of the house and helps with household chores. It is so far only a concept that could serve as a smart house monitor, as an assistant for sports or as a buddy for pets and children, for example. Samsung presented the robot Ballie on stage as part of its presentation at the CES 2020 in Las Vegas.
The rolling robot uses artificial intelligence (AI) to perform a series of tasks that include the operation of a smart home, safety, and physical health aspects. You can talk with it and ask it to perform various tasks, and it performs some automatically if you make a schedule in advance.
The robot does not seem to be able to do much more at the moment. The extremely nicely produced video below shows a much larger vision. With the shape of a ball, the accessory is able to recognize and even follow its owner. It can also control other smart equipment at homes, such as robot vacuum cleaner and smart TV, as well as remind the user of appointments and organize their routine.
In the Samsung Ballie case, there is a set of sensors for orientation in the room and interaction with the outside world. It also has a regular camera that can record video with family members or pets. Special attention is paid to confidentiality; no one can remotely control the robot or receive video from its camera. The user, at this moment, will receive the online broadcast on the smartphone of what is happening in the house. According to the company, only users will have access to them.
“It is a small, rolling robot that understands you, supports you, and reacts to your needs to be actively helpful around the house,” Sebastian Seung, Chief Research Scientist at Samsung Electronics, elaborated on Ballie during the presentation.
Its capabilities will be constantly expanded due to artificial intelligence and the scaling of the system of “smart” gadgets. When Billie begins to be sold and how much it will cost, not yet reported.